The Last Time
by thepineandthestar
Summary: "Hey, alley cat. Wake up." Ladybug said, shaking his hand, "It's patrol time. You don't want to keep Paris waiting." But he was still. The doctor looked on miserably at the heroine as she shook his hand and refused to remove the sheet. "Come on! It hurts to see you like this, Chat Noir! Enough with this joke. Flirt with me, make your stupid remarks, make cat puns. Say something!"
**One thing before reading. Yes I did not hesitate to kill Chat Noir. I wanted to be brave enough to kill a major character before I go through with my Hunger Games AU for ML and kill 23 people. Also, I was turned to a sobbing wreck because of this. I hate the plot bunny that gave me this.**

* * *

It had been too fast. Way too fast. She did not know how it happened. One second she was just smiling at him, daring him to catch up.

It had been very usual. They always did joke around every once in a while during patrol and nobody cared. Nobody cared about the cat and the ladybug jumping across from roof to roof in a cold Parisian night. They knew the noises were from their beloved heroes so nobody dared to interrupt. After all, it was not everyday that they saw Ladybug putting down her strict nature and playing with the cat.

But for this night, Ladybug blamed herself for that same reason. It was not everyday that they chased each other and she regretted that it was this very night.

She turned back, ready to yell him another "Keep up old cat" when she saw him jump on a spot on his roof and fall down. Her heart skipped a beat as his face changed from pure happiness to utter shock as he dropped down the dark building. Ladybug quickly went over to where he was, trying to catch up if possible. But he had already fallen at the time she did catch up. She looked down the hole his body made and made her way down.

Her eyes betrayed her in the dark. After all, she was not the one who had night vision. She waited until her eyes adjusted to the dark and searched for the cat to get him out of there and bring him to the doctor to get him checked.

That was when she heard him groaning. Ladybug ran to the source of the sound and gasped as she saw his body laying not too far from where she was. She ran to him and kneeled down.

"Chat are you hurt?" Ladybug asked, trying to look at his body in the dark which was very unsuccessful

"My Lady," Chat gasped, holding her hand

"What's wrong?" Ladybug asked

Chat coughed violently then Ladybug could feel something wet on her cheek. She pulled her hand from him and wiped it away, looking at it with the weak light given by the moon. Her eyes went wide as she saw what it was.

Blood.

Chat's blood.

"Tell me what's wrong." Her voice started to get shaky but she tried to keep her demeanor calm

Chat grabbed her hand and directed it to his body. She could feel his ragged breathing as her hand touched her chest, then down towards his stomach. Chat paused for a while before slowly continuing to lead her hand to his right. Ladybug furrowed her brows as he stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" She repeated

Then Chat, with a heavy heart, continued until her hand touched something solid connected to his body.

She furrowed her brows and muttered, "What's this?"

"My Lady I'm sorry but this cat definitely doesn't have nine lives." He laughed weakly before getting in another coughing fit

She touched his leather suit, confused that something hard was connected to it. Was this his staff? Then it clicked in her mind. The blood. The object.

Chat fell down on metal.

"Oh, oh no." Ladybug whispered, "Chat cooperate with me, okay? Try to push yourself up."

She grabbed his thin body and pulled it up. She could hear the metal that was pierced in his body as flesh was removed from it.

She tried to keep her tears at bay. She tried to not think of what worst case scenario. Chat was strong. Maybe even stronger than her. Alright fine she could admit that he was stronger. But she had to be the stronger one this time. She carried his limp body and tried to find a way out. There was the hole in the roof, but Chat was far too weak to hold on to her while she pulled him up.

She placed the boy down on the ground again, directly under the moonlight where she could see him. She saw the hole the metal made and all the blood seeping out. It was not such a good sight. She looked up at his pale face. He was still looking at her with this admiration and contentment on his small smile despite the blood running down his cheeks.

"My Lady, h-have I ever told you how beautiful you look tonight?" His voice was down to a low whisper, trying to reserve the energy for something more useful

"Ch-Chat shut up, okay?" Ladybug did not mean to snap but was that really what he was thinking and saying at the time, all the while hot tears strolling down her face, "Let's, let's just th-ink of a way out."

It was getting harder to breathe and take control of her body with all of the tears and the shaking. She could not think of a solution and she was supposed to be the one to create the plans. Her mind was getting crowded of the hundreds and thousands of thought running through it. She summoned her Lucky Charm and she was given just a piece of rag.

Of course she should not have done that. There were no akumas around and Tikki would be disappointed at her for using her Lucky Charm for this. But it was needed. It was severely needed.

Her hand made its way to his gaping wound, if she could degrade it to a mere wound that is. She put pressure on it, desperate to stop the blood from flowing through. Chat's hand made its way to her face as he weakly wiped the tears away with her thumb.

"Hey, stop crying, okay? Stop crying. I'd hate it if the last thing I saw was your crying face." He told her

"Alright, listen here, Chat Noir." She snapped her head up to his, angry tears flowing down her face, "This isn't your last moment. This isn't the last thing you'll see. Did you hear that? This is not the last face you will ever see!"

Chat just laughed at her, "That's my Bugaboo, stubborn as always."

Ladybug sobbed even more at that. Chat was easy to accept this. Well she was not about to do just that. He will live.

"Shut up!" She yelled, one hand still clutching his injury

She pulled his head to her lap and started petting his hair and fixing the ones that stuck to his sweaty forehead. Chat closed his eyes and smiled.

"This is n-ice." He whispered, choking back a sob that was forming in his throat

Then it had hit him. It had just hit him hard. If there was that wound in his body and if he was to run out of blood, then he would not live and not living means that he would not wake up to be Adrien Agreste anymore. He would not see his father. He would not get the chance to find his mother. He would not go to school and see Chloé, Sabrina, Alix and Max and all of his classmates. He would not get to see the bestest best friend in the world. He could not talk about how he loved Ladybug to Nino without the other one knowing that he was Chat Noir. He would not talk about the Ladyblog with Alya. Dang, he would not see that beautiful blushing and stuttering mess that was Marinette. He liked that ball of sunshine. She was like his cup of coffee in the morning. He would not get the chance to buy another ball of camembert for Plagg and then he would not get the chance to be Chat Noir anymore. And if that happened, he would not get to see his Lady anymore, the reason behind why he got up in the morning and why he goes to bed happy. No more school, photoshoots, and stress, yes. But then that meant no more Ladybug.

And somehow he was not okay with that.

But being with her right now at this exact moment, maybe it was fine. She was there, telling him he would live. Oh Ladybug and her pretty little lies.

"I t-old you to stop it, okay?" Ladybug started hiccuping, "You're going to live a long happy life with your family and friends." Her grip on his hair tightened but she was sure that she was not hurting him

She put him on her back, not caring if he was as thin as a toothpick and as pale as a cotton. She pulled out her yoyo and reached for the highest point her weapon could reach. She swung up high in the air, jumping from roof to roof.

 _Just like earlier._ he could not help but recall with a sad smile on his face

Perhaps that was the last time they would go patrolling. Perhaps that was the last time. But what mattered was he was happy. He was happy to chase his Lady. After all, how many guys could do the exact same job?

He could hear the wind against his ears and the cool breeze on his face. It felt nice to be on Ladybug's back. It felt nice that he was swinging aroud Paris. The feeling was nice but the thought was not. But hey, he did something worth his life. Worth more than those hundreds upon thousands of photoshoots. He would be remembered. And that felt nice.

His eyes were still closed as lights around him became bright and he could feel the cold airconditioner and the familiar smell of the hospital. He could feel being pulled away from Ladybug's back. He could feel being placed on something soft and being rolled away with the faint sound of people around him panicking.

"Please save him." He could hear Ladybug's plead

He tried to open his eyes to tell her that he was fine but he felt so tired. Keeping them close seemed fine. He could not feel a thing. He felt as if he was a feather. He felt very light and content. This was fine.

He could feel the doctors and nurses desperately removing his suit but failing miserably.

 _It's a magical suit._ He wanted to tell them. But he was just so weak that he could not bring his self to care anymore. He could feel tiny pinpricks at his arms and could not recoil at all of it, feeling as if he lost control of his body. Then he could hear beeping. Was his ring timing out? He did not want to detransform right now. Nobody can know who he really was underneath that mask.

He wanted to tell the people to back off but he could feel himself drifting away slowly, very slowly. He could only see the bright white hospital lights behind his lidded eyes but he assumed that they were saving energy when he saw that they were slowly turning black.

* * *

Ladybug did not know what to do. What should you do when your crime fighting partner was in the emergency room and you were forced in the waiting room?

She locked the doors of the waiting room, making sure that no one could see her in case she detransformed.

Ladybug sat down in a corner, wanting nothing but to just curl away and disappear. This was hard. For the past two years of her life, there was nothing but Chat's never ending flirts and puns. What would she do without her other half? She knew better than to let Chat go, let alone make him feel bad that he would refuse to be her partner. What would happen if the worst case scenario just happened to be plausible?

How would she fight without seeing the memory of Chat jumping down next to her and putting a remark about the villain or giving her a flirty pun during battle? How would she live without cat puns? Cat puns were essential in her life and in her battles. It seemed unbearable. It seemed so impossible that she did not ever bring herself to think that that was ever to happen. For all the time they had known each other, she just responded witty remarks back at him. Who would she talk to in that way again?

How would crime fighting even be possible without the silly alley cat who always throws himself in the face of danger just to protect her? How would crime fighting be without the trademark fist bump at the end of every battle? How would crime fighting be if she did not have her yang with her? How would crime fighting be without Chat Noir?

If she had known this would happen then maybe she gave him a chance. She gave his very short existence a chance to be with her even in the last few days or weeks of his life. If she had known it was to happen then maybe she treated him better. If she had known it was to happen then she could have prevented it. _If_ she had known.

How she would give anything to have known it was bound to happen.

Now she would love to have traded her life with his, wanting to be in his position. What would his family think if their cheerful young boy would not go back home after a long night? What would they feel? What would Alya say to the followers of her blog? _How_ can she explain to her bestfriend how he died? How was everything after this? She could not go on that was for sure.

Her everyday would turn gloomy after all of this. Her everyday would turn different. Her everyday would be devastating. And nobody would know why.

And now nobody knows about that certain Parisian heroine breaking down in a corner of the hospital. Nobody would know.

* * *

If you would ask Ladybug that if she was given the chance to know the person behind the mask, she would say never. But in this case, she would give everything just to see who he was.

She had detransformed a long time ago and had to transform again since she was called to the room Chat was in. Ladybug's legs were trembling. Her eyes had long stopped producing tears, making sure that her body was still dehydrated. She could feel no emotion left, all drained with the gallons of tears that was left as a reminder of her negligence. Her eyes was blotchy and red and her limbs were working to their own accord.

Ladybug cannot recall ever standing up from her corner. She could not recall the doctor coming out of the room. She could not recall him breaking her the worst news she had received in her entire lifetime. She could not recall walking up to the room but here she was, standing at the foot of the bed of the deceased hero. She worked up the courage to walk up to his side and she guessed it was too little because she could not bring her hand to pull that stupid white sheet away.

"He detransformed three minutes after he passed away." The doctor told her

Ladybug looked up at the doctor, her face expressionless.

"We swore to never reveal to anyone who he is." The doctor continued

Marinette murmured a thanks, the weakest she ever gave. Her hand laid on his hand which was still under the sheets.

"Hey, alley cat. Wake up." Ladybug said, shaking her hand, "It's patrol time. You don't want to keep Paris waiting."

But he was still. The doctor looked on miserably at the heroine as she shook his hand and refused to remove the sheet.

"Come on, Chat Noir!" Ladybug was screaming loud and clear as her tearducts proceeded to do its job once more, covering her face with fresh, hot tears, "You vowed to protect Paris now wake up! If you don't get up from there right now, I swear, Chat Noir, we're never going to talk ever again!"

He was still, motionless, and quiet as Ladybug was reduced to tears one more time. Her knees were giving up and she was near to kneeling down on the ground, violently trying to wake her partner up.

"Come on! It hurts to see you like this, Chat Noir! Enough with this joke. Flirt with me, make your stupid remarks, make cat puns for all I care just say something!" She was on the verge of fainting, her knuckles turning white at her iron grip on his wrist, "Chat this isn't fair! Don't leave me please! You're no fun! Stop cheating, Chat. You said you won't go away. You promised you won't leave me so keep up with your dumb promise you alley cat!" And she could not hold it in her anymore and yanked the sheet away, her heart dropping instantly at the pale boy with the same blonde hair that sat in front of her every passing day. The same boy she had dreamed to marry. The same boy who flirted with her to no end. The same boy who saved her countless time.

"Chat!" She screamed as she threw her hands to his shoulders, shaking him, "Wake up! Please wake up! I can't do this alone, you know that I can't do this alone. Don't-, Ch-at!"

The doctors and nurses stood by, watching her mourn. If it was her way of coping then they would let her be for the time being.

She hugged him with all her might, refusing to let go. She cried on his chest, just like those many nights she had spent with him on patrol, ranting about how hard life was and how she wished that it was better. Now those were just memories. Nothing but memories only she holds.

"Chat, Adrien, please." She gulped, "I can't do this alone. I need a Chat Noir. I need my Chat Noir. Mon Minou please wake up. Come on!"

But he still was not waking up. She stayed there for a good hour, crying her heart out.

"I'm sorry I never told you how much I cared, Chat." She whispered at his corpse, "I'm sorry I never told you how much I love you, Adrien." Her heart and her mind were conflicted and hurt all at the same time, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough to save you."

Soon enough, Chat's body was wheeled to the morgue where Ladybug was banned whether or not she was Ladybug. She spent another half hour sitting down on a chair in the same waiting room. A doctor walked out and sat down next to her.

"I give my condolences." He told her

Ladybug, who was now staring at the pristine white walls of the hospital, just nodded very weakly.

"He wanted to send you a message before he passed." The doctor continued

"What was it? A pun?" She laughed at the thought of Chat's last words being a pun saying that it was 'paw-leasant to have met her'

"No, but he wanted to tell you how thankful he was." The doctor answered

"I was never good enough. I don't deserve his thank you." Ladybug answered

"And how much he loved you."

That broke her heart. She could feel nothing else in her body except for that thumping that would not stop so she could follow him and that lone tear that escaped her right eye.

"I wish I could've told him that I did too." Ladybug whispered

The doctor shrugged, "He knows."

* * *

The morning after that was the worst. News had spread that Adrien Agreste had passed away. Everyone mourned. Everyone was sorrowful. That same night, Ladybug went to Alya's home, announcing the worst news.

"Chat Noir has," she bit her lip, not wanting to say the words, "he's, he's passed away."

Ladybug did not know how Alya reacted afterwards, her mind filling the space with thoughts of the happy moments she had with Chat. Once she got home, she went to open her computer to watch all videos with Chat in it. Every single one. She knew it was bad for her mind and heart but she just could not register the fact that she would wake up and not see her beloved partner during an Akuma fight and during patrols.

In class, she was dead tired but her eyes stayed open, just staring at the empty seat in front of her. Nobody understood why she took such a hard blow. Nobody knew that she was Ladybug so why should they? They just all thought that she had lost the boy she loved the most, nothing more, nothing less. But in reality she had lost a partner, a confidant, a friend, a lover, the complete half of her team even.

And so a memorial was probably the last thing she wanted but it was what she was given. A week after the dreadful day came a memorial organized by the mayor. And she was to give a speech. What should she say? What else than to say sorry and that hope still prevails? That was what everybody wanted to hear right? Reassurance? But who would reassure _her_?

"We are all here today because of one silly cat who couldn't afford to stay alive any longer." She laughed lightly, trying to be strong, "I wish he was here to see this. He'd probably boast again about how much Paris loves him. I can see how much you love him. He knows that, really. He knew how much you all appreciated him." A sob escaped from her throat, "But I wish he knew how much I loved him too. It is so difficult to go through night and day knowing he won't be there to bug me." She gripped the podium to keep her knees from giving up on her, "He's given me so much I couldn't repay but he was all fine with that. Chat I hope wherever you are right now, you're happy. I'll, I'll keep Paris safe. I can't promise but I'll try. You know stubborn me." A fresh batch of tears rolled down her face as she remembered one of the last few words he had said to her, "I wish you all knew who he really was behind the mask. I talked with his family and they were fine if you all knew. So I'd like to introduce to you, my partner, the most precious darling of Paris," her breath hitched, "A-Adrien Agre-ste."

A day later, people crowded Adrien's burial. Marinette was next to Alya and Nino, weeping her eyes out. Nobody still knew that she was Ladybug. Nobody even should. She should keep it at that. She was Marinette. Her hidden counterpart was Ladybug. That was the trick.

It was a month after Marinette had finished her mourning that the inevitable happened. She had gone to accept the truth that both Adrien and Chat Noir were dead and that they are the same person. Acceptance came hard and pulled her down. She even went as far as getting hospitalized because she was not eating and she was becoming dehydrated with all the tears. But she fought hard. For Chat. She knew how he would be hurt seeing her in such a condition.

She sat down on the Eiffel Tower where they usually were, just content of the fresh scent of summer air blowing right at her face. Then she heard a light thud from behind her. She turned around and saw a brown haired boy standing there, grinning at her. He was wearing a black leather suit, a black mask, and cat ears that were so new yet so familiar.

"Hi, I'm Chat Noir." He introduced himself, brown eyes wide with excitement

Ladybug gave the boy a weak smile and patted the seat next to her. She knew that it would not be the same. She knew that Fu had to have another miraculous holder. Two years and they have not captured Hawkmoth yet. She also knew in herself that she could not ever look at this Chat Noir the same way as she did with her Chat Noir. She would never bring herself to accept that the boy sitting next to her was the Chat Noir, the real one living in her heart. But she had to work with him. And there was no way she was breaking her promise to her Chat.

"Okay rule number one," she started, "no jumping on a roof."


End file.
